North American cuisine excels on the sweet side of things – from my childhood in Canada I remember the pecan pies… the chocolate chip cookies…maple syrup…Betty Crocker cakes… and cheesecakes.

The recipe below for chocolate cheesecake is inspired by one in Bernice Hurst’s Perfect Cheesecake. I discovered from her (I’ve had the book for decades, it was published in 1978) that:

“The British think that cheesecake is an American creation, but in fact it was probably first made by Greek shepherds, for their gods, and was first brought to the States in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by Englishwomen imported to marry the men of the colonies. They made small curd tarts like the ones known as Maids of Honour. Only later did the immigrants from central Europe come along with their large cakes.”

Of course the types of cheesecake are many and various… there’s the classic New York cheesecake, there are cheesecakes covered with strawberries…

… and then, of course, there is always chocolate. I’ve tried many, but this is by far the best chocolate cheesecake, in my view, of all time! It’s so rich, you need to serve it with single cream, if that makes sense. At 7,600 calories in total, this cake is the most fattening in the whole book – a horrendous 960 calories per slice! But don’t let that put you off….my son likes it with fruit as well….

The swirl effect makes it look spectacular.

This cheesecake won’t freeze, and it won’t keep much longer than a day in the fridge as the base goes soggy.

If you have any ginger nut biscuits left over, you try making a Sweet Cheese and Apple Cake…or a Coconut and Pineapple Flower Pie….

For other cheesecake recipes on Sauce Dressings try:

• Pop-art period cheats’ cheesecake – two different fruit versions
• Dan Hargreaves useful cheats’ cheesecake
• Millionaire’s cheesecake
• Bruiser blueberry cheesecake

Recipe for the best chocolate swirl cheesecake of all time

Serves 8

Ingredients for the base

• 100g/4 oz ginger nuts
• 30g/2 tbsp golden caster sugar
• 50g/2 oz butter – melted

Ingredients for the filling

• 200g/7 oz dark chocolate
• 30g/3 tbsp good quality Dutch cocoa powder
• 275g/1¼ cups golden caster sugar
• 450g/1 lb cream cheese – don’t even consider getting ‘lite’
• 100ml/½ cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 4 eggs

• Single or whipped cream to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Bash the ginger nuts in a plastic bag with a rolling pin to turn them into crumbs.
3. In a mixing bowl mix with the sugar.
4. Moisten with the melted butter.
5. Use the mix to make a base for the cheesecake in a quiche tin with a removable base.
6. Over a bain marie, melt the chocolate, cocoa, and 100g/½ cup of sugar.
7. In a mixing bowl, beat the cheese (with an electric whisk) until light.
8. And gradually add the rest of the sugar, the sour cream, and the vanilla paste.
9. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing in well.
10. Divide the mixture into two bowls. Add the melted chocolate to the mixture in one bowl.
11. Pour the chocolate mixture onto the base. Pour the plain mixture on top of it.
12. Swirl with a knife to achieve the marbled effect.
13. Bake for 45 minutes. Don’t panic when it comes out of the oven still runny, it will set as it cools… this is almost more of a chocolate pudding than a cheesecake! This isn’t so good when it’s overcooked.
14. Cool, and then chill in the fridge.
15. If you think it looks a bit spartan (!), you can decorate the edge with whipped cream.